Mission Bay High School’s Preservationists Jazz Band to hold fundraiser concert for trip to Japan

Mission Bay High School’s award-winning Preservationists Jazz Band will host a fundraising concert from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 to support its upcoming trip to Japan.

It will be held at the La Jolla Women’s Club, 7791 Draper Ave. in La Jolla. The event will include an evening of jazz music, food, a silent auction and more. Tickets are $20. They can be purchased in advance at missionbaymusic.com and at the door. Sponsorships and cash donations are also being accepted.

The band’s goal is to raise $15,000, half of the trip’s total cost. San Diego-Yokohama Sister City will contribute the second half.

Proceeds will support the band on its biennial San Diego-Yokohama Sister City Goodwill Delegation Tour in April. During the trip, the musicians will perform and represent San Diego for the 65th anniversary of Sister City relations between San Diego and Yokohama, Japan.

Following their return, the Preservationists will host Japanese students, teachers, administrators and elected officials in San Diego.

“Our program is nationally known, which sets a very high standard for our students, and motivates kids to work hard in school, graduate and continue their education,” said music director Jean-Paul Balmat. “The once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan will cultivate cultural depth and professional horizons for the young high school musicians as they prepare for the next chapter in their adult lives.”

Senior vocalists Ava Strickland and Paulina Perez, both members of the Preservationists, during a Mission Bay High School Swing Choir rehearsal.

(Cyril Reinicke)

The band includes instrumentalists and singers.

Senior violinist Stephanie Zavala-lemaroy, began playing the violin as a kindergartener at Crown Point Elementary. She continued her music studies at Pacific Beach Middle School and was invited to join the Preservationists after auditioning.

“I am excited to play in new venues and make memories with the band,” Zavala-lemaroy said of the upcoming trip. “I learn something new from each performance, and this helps me grow as a musician.

“Playing in different countries and meeting professional musicians inspires me to keep practicing, and it inspires the band to reach our full potential,” she added.

Zavala-lemaroyshe said she is also looking forward to hosting jazz musicians from Japan at Mission Bay High, a visit this spring that will include the two bands performing together.

Violinist Stephanie Zavala-lemaroy, trumpeter Brady Newell and saxophonist Noble Santillan with the Mission Bay High School Preservationists performing at the San Diego Jazz Fest in November 2022.

(Jasurin Parmar)

Senior Ava Strickland is a singer in Mission Bay High’s Swing Choir and with the Preservationists.

“I have been singing since before I can remember, but it was performing for the first time in third grade — in my first musical — when I realized singing was what I wanted to keep doing the rest of my life,” Strickland said.

“Singing, when everything is going exactly how it should, is a feeling I can’t quite describe,” Strickland added. “There is something ‘other worldly’ about creating music using only your body.”

Senior vocalists Samantha Watts and Amaya Gray during a choir rehearsal.

(Cyril Reinicke)

Since 2015, Mission Bay High’s music program has supported the sister city program. Yokohama has a long history of being a hub for western cultural influence in Japan, introducing jazz throughout the 1920s and flourishing in the postwar period of American military presence in the region.

“The exchange program helps the kids become better global citizens, providing them intercultural skills that will allow them to make the most of future international opportunities in business, their professions of choice or public service in an increasingly interconnected world,” said Steven Sigafus, San Diego-Yokohama Sister City president. “Our goal is to connect youth and foster friendship to build lasting understanding.”